Betta Can't hold food down!

[kitkatbar]

what does "temp" stand for?

[GreenTea]

temperature :)

[kitkatbar]

i guess she means room temperature water? its so hard for me to get the jargon

I basically have a water changing process down, I just dont know now whether i need a 1 time a week water change or 2 time a week. I dont mind either way. I take everything out (rocks, plants) whenever I change it and wipe down the insides of the tank with a paper towel. I don't switch out all the water, I just take the objects out. then i scrub the inside of the tank (this is while fishie is in a cup of the old water). then i put the new water in and treat it.

sound okay........

im really tired...but i take the plants and rocks out so i can rinse them in hot water.

I have no mold, fungus etc. Water is clear.

[GreenTea]

OFL is saying you need to remove half of the water, two times a week.

One of those times just take out half of the water, no scrubbing or gravel cleaning necessary. The other time needs to include cleaning the gravel to remove old poop and food, either by rinsing the gravel or using a vacuum to suck up the poo and such (recommended.) These tank vacuums are extremely cheap and sold at places like petco for a few dollars.

When you do the second water change with gravel cleaning, it would be a good idea to rinse off the decor as well. If the plants are natural you do not need to rinse them, unless they have some algae or something, then you can just wipe them off with a damp paper towel.

OFL was explaining how nitrogen and other elements work together in the aquarium, which is a process called cycling. It is hard to cycle a tank under 10 gallons in my opinion and not really necessary. There is a sticky somewhere, I think under the Betta Care section that explains what cycling is and how to do it if you wish. It does get really technical!

[kitkatbar]

Oky Doky. :) Thanks...Sorry if i sound all fuddled guys. It's been a long day and I can hardly write a complete sentence!

That makes much more sense to menow! Instructing newbies is a good team activity ;)

[GreenTea]

Haha yeah I guess so! OFL helped me when I got here. She has extremely advanced science-y natural tanks with virtually no water changes so she is extremely knowledgeable about diseases and water quality issues, as well as plants.

I learned a lot from her and others and thats the only reason I can help now!

[kitkatbar]

Yup, sounds like a knowledgeable lady.

I'm just pretty ignorant, despite my desire to research!! Theres so much conflicting info out there. I can't really find anything that looks legit

[GreenTea]

This forum is legit. There are probably almost a hundred members on here consistently every day, and hundreds of other checking in every few days. There are years worth of threads to search and lots of consistent and accurate information.

I would check the forum ultimatebettas.com and the site for Betty Splendens for good info. Honestly, this is the best place I've found.

[kitkatbar]

Cool, thanks

[kitkatbar]

Hi everybody!

To everybody who gave me advice, thank you! Especially OldFishLady and Green Tea.

I think the problem with my Sidonie was over-feeding. He's quite the little tike and I started feeding him only once a day and he stopped the throwing up thing. He is holding down his food really great now.

Thanks to everyone for the basics advice. He's doing well and looking and acting pretty healthy :). I'm so glad!!!

I have now had my beautiful Sidonie for 1 month and 1 day. Hurray! :D